Hurricanes Take on NC State in ACC Action

Oct. 14, 2004

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s volleyball team will take on visiting NC State in Atlantic Coast Conference action Friday night at 7:00 pm in the Knight Sports Complex. The Hurricanes look to improve on an 8-6 overall and 3-3 ACC record.

“NC State goes to their middles a great deal and we hope to slow them down with our blocking and defense, as that will be critical to win the match,” said head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch.

“We also know that we need to pass well, like we did in our last match, so that we can have all of our attackers involved in our offense and make things difficult for their block.”

The Wolfpack are league leaders in blocks per game (3.18) and hold a 10-9 overall record while remaining winless in the ACC after six tries. NC State most recently dropped a 3-2 decision to Virginia Tech on Saturday.

The Hurricanes hope to build on a three game sweep of Florida Atlantic that saw senior Ashley Youngs set a new career-high with a 16 kill performance against the Owls.

Senior Valeria Tipiana continues to lead the Hurricanes with a team-best .352 hitting percentage to go along with 4.98 kills per game and 38 total service aces. Junior Karla Johnson’s 3.61 kills per game places her second on the team. Sophomore Jill Robinson leads the team with 728 assists.

Defensively Miami has relied on the solid play of senior Jamie Grass who has posted 237 digs so far this season, and redshirt sophomore Ciara Michel who leads the team with 78 total blocks.

The Wolfpack are led by junior Adeola Kosoko’s .323 hitting percentage and senior Melanie Rowe’s 3.39 kills per game. Freshman Lauren Markowski has dished out a team-high 709 assists while freshman Andrea Bentley leads with 2.94 digs per game.

For up-to-date women’s volleyball results and news visit hurricanesports.com